Instant Messaging provides instant communication with another individual or group of individuals utilizing the Internet as a medium and an Internet Appliance (defined here in a more generic sense to mean a desktop PC, a laptop, a simplified PC for Internet connectivity, an Internet phone (WAP phone), a Personal Digital Assistant such as a Palm VII®, a 2-way pager, etc.) as an input/output device.
Instant Messaging services are offered by a number of internet service providers for use by their users. Instant Messaging technology is also very often utilized by the service provider to contact the user about service information as well as for advertising purposes. When a user is utilizing the Instant Messaging Service, a window is brought up onto the user's screen. The window includes many items, including a message line, a dialog box and a buddy list. The buddy list is a user-created collection of possible instant messaging recipients. Instant messaging applications only allow individuals using the same internet service provider to be included on a buddy list.
When a user has access has access to the Internet Messaging Service and a member of their buddy list logs onto the Instant Messaging service, the user can be notified in a number of possible ways. For instance, a user can be notified visually by an icon, by a chime or any other user-selected sound notification. In other words, the buddy list allows a user to keep track of the Internet activity of possible Instant Messaging recipients, thus letting the user know when her buddies come online or go offline.
When a user wishes to send an Instant Message to someone on her buddy list, the user selects the desired address from the buddy list and enters her message into a dialog box. When the user presses the send button, a window immediately opens on the screen of the recipient with the Instant Message. This window will remain open until it is closed by either user. The recipient can then respond by entering a message into the dialog box and pressing send. This continues as long as both individuals wish to have a conversation.
Instant Messaging Services are a popular form of communication for a number of reasons. First, the immediate nature of the message delivery is desirable for responses that are needed right away. On the same token, an Instant Messaging Service is a much quicker means of communication than even e-mail. In addition, Instant Messaging users can carry on two conversations at once, and unlike a telephone call, the connection is free.
Other features that are available to an Instant Messaging user include being able to block another user from detecting whether you are online or offline, or being able to block certain individuals from communicating with you. Instant Messaging Services also can feature indicators which tell a user that a certain recipient is not available upon dispatch to that recipient. Most Instant Messaging Services also provide user directories, where a user can choose whether her user name is listed.
Another topic which must be addressed for the purpose of this disclosure is that of message notification systems. Message notification systems are utilized to alert an individual when they have voice, e-mail or fax messages. Examples of current notification methods include a “message waiting” indication light on a phone, “stutter” dial tone on a home phone, an icon or short message on a wireless handset's display, a numeric message to a pager and numerous others.
All of the aforementioned methodologies are in many instances ineffective in that the systems generating the notification cannot detect whether the user is present. Two main problems arise with a high level of frequency. First, in the event that a user is away from her phone or notification device for a long period of time, important messages that require timely responses become obsolete. To alleviate the problem, some systems allow users to “broadcast” notification using several of these methodologies successively. But this is typically more costly to implement, and not necessarily more efficient since the user must anticipate and tell the system beforehand when and where he or she might be reached. It can also become quite annoying for the user to get notified several times of the same new message.